Computing devices (“computers”) have become increasingly technically complex since their inception. Computers, even those capable of being carried in a single hand (such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant), can perform many more functions at much greater speed than the computers of the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these expanded functions rely on interconnecting a computer with an accessory, another computer or other electronic device (collectively, “peripherals”). For example, peripherals may use a variety of standards to connect to a computer, including: universal serial bus (USB); FireWire; serial; digital video interface (DVI); various audio standards; parallel; and so forth. Different peripherals may employ different connectors or connection standards.
Traditionally, input/output ports occupy a fixed, stationary position in a computer. By maintaining a static position for the input/output ports (“I/O ports”), engineering of the computer case is simplified. However, fixed I/O ports may be inconveniently placed. Further, fixed I/O ports often are susceptible to dust and/or debris entering the ports and interfering with their functions.
Further, I/O ports are generally contained within a Faraday cage defined by the case of the computer. The Faraday cage generally prevents electrical noise from outside the cage entering the interior and vice versa. Thus, the computer case (be it the shell of a desktop or laptop computer, the casing of a mobile telephone or PDA, or other case/cage) prevents noise or extraneous signals from exiting the computer via the I/O ports and reaching a peripheral connected to the port(s). Similarly, the computer case may also prevent noise and/or extraneous signals generated by the peripheral, or another electronic device outside the case, from entering the case via the I/O port and internal associated connector cable. Further, the case may prevent or reduce noise generated by the interior I/O cabling or internal systems from exiting the case. In short, the computer case electrically isolates its interior from its exterior.
Because the I/O ports are typically located within the barrier of a Faraday cage, they are stationary; moving ports might break or exit the electrical barrier. I/O ports may be, for example, recessed within the case to place them within the cage. It may be inconvenient to access such recessed ports.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved I/O port that places the I/O ports outside of the computer case for ease of access while still electrically insulating the computer from external noise and likewise electrically isolating the exterior from internal noise generated by various electrical components and systems of the computer itself.